Open House

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Title: Open House
Photo Credit: Matthew Mazzotta, Shana Berger, and Nathan Purath
Lead Artist(s):

Description:

Open House is a community-built physically transforming House/Theater for York, AL In 2011, Matthew Mazzotta was invited by the Coleman Center For The Arts to organize an artwork with the people of York. During Matthew's initial visit, he asked people from the community to bring something from their living room so that they could recreate a living room outdoors in the middle of the street as a way to provoke discussion about what were on peoples minds and to generate ideas about what direction they might go in. From this conversation, they developed a project that uses the materials of an abandoned house as well as the land it sits on to build the transforming structure on the footprint of the old house. On June 15 2013, a ribbon cutting by the Mayor of York, Gena Robbins, inaugurated Open House followed with an invocation prayer by Reverend Willie, performances by a gospel choir and the local R&B funk band Time Zone, and a screening of Dr. Suess's The Lorax. Since the opening day, several films and art shorts have been screened and the Mayor held the town meeting in Open House. Open House is designed to require cooperation and takes four people 1.5 hours to unfold the structure. The foundation of railroad ties anchors custom-fabricated hinges to five rows of stadium seating that fold down with the aid of a hand winch. Open House directly addresses the lack of public space in York, AL by providing a physical location as common ground for community dialogue and activities. The new structure carries the weight of the past through the materials that were salvaged and repurposed from the old structure. When Open House is fully unfolded, it provides an opportunity for people to come together and experience the community from a new perspective. When it folds back up, it resembles the original abandoned house, reminding people of the history of what was there before. Events of Open House are actively programed by the Coleman Center for the Arts and free to the public

PROJECT LOCATION

Public Space
Public park and open air theater
Open House
202 Main Street
York, AL 36925
United States

click the map to enlarge
PROJECT TEAM

The Coleman Center for the Arts
Shana Berger

Nathan Purath
Coleman Center for the Arts
Jegan Vincent De Paul
PROJECT DETAILS

Permanent
$30,300
Private
Installation, Sculpture, Site integrated architectural work
Found/Recycled Objects, Metal, Video, Wood
2013
2014
VIDEOS

Embedded thumbnail for 2014 Public Art Year in Review: Blighted Property in Alabama Becomes an Community Outdoor Theater